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Rigid gas permeable lenses

With plenty of innovations taking place in the contact lens industry today, rigid gas permeable lenses are amongst the most novel of all types of lenses. Highly advanced, they are the perfect example of cutting-edge technology, and have revolutionized the contact lens industry.

The original contact lens was made of rigid material known as PMAA and was known as hard contact lens. They were invented in the late 1940s and although a relief to people needing prescription glasses, were not permeable to oxygen and moisture, thus disallowing the eyes to breathe.

The 1970s saw another invention in the form of soft contact lenses, which brought immense relief to those people who did not have a choice and were forced to wear only hard contact lenses. The early soft lenses were for daily wear but did not allow for the passage of oxygen and moisture into the eye.

The years after 1980 led to the invention of gas permeable lenses. These lenses were made of silicone, which made them more flexible. The novel feature about these contact lenses was that it allowed oxygen to penetrate through the lens, giving the yes the eyes the ability to breathe and retain moisture. This made the experience of wearing contact lenses more comfortable, irritation free and caused less infection than the original hard contact lenses did. In short, RGP lenses lead to healthier eyes.

Another major benefit of RGP contact lenses is that they resist protein build-up on the surface, the accumulation of which can lead to huge discomfort, irritation and infection to the eye. All these reasons have led to RGP contact lenses becoming the number one choice for most users of prescription lenses.